The assembly was finally over, and the lecture hall began to empty. Students stood up from their seats, stretched and gathered their things. The noise was what you'd expect to hear—multiple voices overlapping with each other. Most of them were free to go back to their dorms, but not all of them. A select few had to do one last task before their day was complete.
"I can't wait for this", William said, grinning, rubbing his hands.
"Same, I want to see this hiding spot", Chris added, stretching his back.
Malakai overheard what they said. "Hopefully it's still there", he quietly said.
"Hopefully?" Melody questioned.
"I don't know. Some rats might've taken them", Malakai casually said, shrugging. "It was under the floor innit".
"Let's just get this over with", Melody said, rolling her eyes, not taking him seriously. She'd only known him for a few days, but she'd gotten used to his personality already. "I've got some music to release", she sassily joked with a smile, matching his energy.
"Aryt. Sorrryy, Beyoncé", Malakai played along, putting his hands up. He turned to the rest of his friends. "Aye, you lot. We're going to get the devices".
"Okay!/Sure!/Let's go!".
All his friends followed him as he walked off the stage and towards the exit.
"Tanisha", Isabella said, tapping her shoulder. "Can we get our device in a bit? I want to see where my friend hid her device".
"Okay. I don't mind", Tanisha replied. "Where is she?".
"They're going right now", Isabella said, pointing at the big group leaving. "Her partner was David from your class".
Tanisha saw all of them leaving together. After seeing who was in the group, she got curious, "Yeah, let's go", she said, narrow-eyed towards the group. "I want to see where they hid their devices, too".
Before they moved, she turned back towards the seats and waved sharply, "Maria! Come here!".
"Will you even be able to get your device?" Jason asked.
"Yeaaah", Ash confidently but unconvincingly replied, while nodding. He turned to his partner and put a hand on his shoulder. "You remember which bush it was in, right?"
"You were the one who threw it in the bush", Felipe said, frowning. "I just watched".
"Hmm", Ash rubbed his chin, turning his head back to Jason. "Don't worry, we'll find it", he waved his hand.
"I'm not worrying", Jason smirked, shaking his head.
"There's a lot of people following us", Malakai said, glancing behind him.
Malakai and Melody were walking to their hiding spot, and, of course, Malakai's friends and their partners were following him, but other people were joining them as well.
"Everyone wants to see your hiding spot", Melody replied. "After what you said to the second years, can you blame them?"
"Mally, why did you swear to all the second years?" David asked, wanting to know.
"That was so random", Benjamin added with a laugh, remembering everyone's shock.
"Oh yeah... So basically", Malakai said, slightly looking back. "Argh, it's a long story", he gave up.
"Dude, just tell us", William said, lightly pushing his back.
"Aryt, aryt", Malakai smirked, tilting his head down. "Basically, I owed this guy called Micheal a favour. And to repay him, he asked me to tell him where I hid my device", he quickly explained. "I refused. Then he told me to tell him where someone else hid theirs. I refused again, then we ended up making a bet if he found my device or not".
"Why did you owe him a favour?" Melody asked, raising a brow, thinking it was something dodgy.
"I lost to him in a game of pool", Malakai said simply.
"You can't be for real", Melody disappointedly said, not believing him. "A favour over a game of pool?".
"I'm not lying", Malakai replied, shaking his head.
"Wait, is this when we went to their building?" William asked, remembering seeing Malakai play pool that day.
"Yeah", Malakai nodded.
"Dang. I thought that guy was cool", William said, feeling betrayed even though he didn't really know Micheal.
"Me too man", Malakai replied.
"You won the bet, right?" Chris asked, joining in. "Did you get anything?".
"Yeah", Malakai said, turning his head to him. "Micheal's my bitch now".
"What?!"
That response came from multiple people around him.
"Hold up", Lucas said, raising his hand. "That means if you lost, you would've been his bitch".
"Yeah", Malakai innocently smiled, acting like it wasn't a big deal.
"How can you be so calm?" Melody asked, a little freaked out.
"What do you mean? I won", Malakai said, lifting his shoulders.
"No, I meant before you knew the results", Melody clarified, her eyes having a glint of worry in them.
"I knew no one was going to find it", Malakai confidently said, not seeing the problem.
The glint of worry quickly disappeared in Melody's eyes. "You're crazy", she said, putting a hand on her head and shaking her head.
"Mally, why didn't you tell us?" David asked.
"Ray knew", Malakai replied, pointing to Ray. "He was with me when it all happened".
"You knew?" William turned to Ray. That betrayed feeling wasn't leaving him just yet.
"Yeah", Ray replied, nervously scratching his head, not liking all the eyes on him right now.
"So both of you didn't want to tell us?" David asked, sounding like he didn't like being left out.
"It was Ray's idea", Malakai said, nodding to him and acting like it wasn't his fault.
The guys turned to Ray again.
"I thought it would be better this way", Ray quickly replied. "It made it less stressful for Mally".
"He's got a point", Benjamin admitted, not caring that much.
"It's done now. I won, so it don't matter", Malakai said, shrugging it off. Shortly after, he stopped in front of a door. "We're here".
"The room that earned us 2000 points", Chris said, grinning.
Malakai opened the door and went into the room with a crowd following him. He stepped further into the room and turned around to see who else was inside.
"Why's there so much people here?" he asked, seeing a mixture of people he knew and didn't know.
"We want to see your hiding spot", Tanisha said, speaking up for everyone.
Malakai smirked, "You wanna witness greatness?" he said wittily.
"Just hurry up. We need to get our device too", Tanisha replied, rolling her eyes. She still wasn't too fond of Malakai's cheeky side... or Malakai in general.
Maria gazed around the room, which wasn't an aesthetically pleasing room. "Maybe I should've snuck in the academy with him when he offered me", she thought, having some regret.
"Yo, someone help me move this", Malakai said, walking towards the old cabinet in the corner and placing his hand on it.
The two biggest guys stepped forward immediately, grabbing either side.
David and Benjamin.
"We got this", David told Malakai, gesturing for him to move away.
Malakai moved out of their way when they shifted the cabinet to the side, dragging it away from the corner and exposing the floor underneath it. Some of the spectators expected to see the devices underneath, but it was just wooden floorboards.
Malakai slowly crouched down, resting one knee on the wooden boards. He pushed down on the floorboard with his palm, with everyone watching. After a second, he efficiently popped open the floorboard and lifted the panel out of place. A lot of eyelids popped up after seeing how easily the floorboard came out. He'd only done it twice, but it looked like he'd done it a thousand times. Malakai dipped his hand inside the floor, and lo and behold, he brought up a capsule.
"Here", Malakai said, handing David the capsule. "Check whose it is".
David wasn't as surprised as some of the other people in the room, as he'd already seen pictures of the spot. He took the capsule and removed the lid. He picked out the photo from inside and checked it, "It's mine", he said with a smile. After confirming it was his, he put the lid back on and went over to Anya. "You can hang onto it for now".
"Thanks", Anya said, smiling, happy to see her device.
"Did you let Malakai hide your device?" Isabella asked, staring at Anya's device.
"Yeah. It took a lot of convincing. At first, I was so against it", Anya said, looking happy with her decision. "But I'm glad I trust them".
Tanisha saw Malakai pulling out capsule after capsule from the floor, and one question was popping up in her head. "Malakai, when did you have time to hide all of those?".
Malakai got back to his feet and dusted off his right knee, "I broke into the academy at night"
"What?!".
Only a few voices reacted in shock. The ones who knew enjoyed seeing that shocked reaction.
Tanisha looked to Maria, who didn't react at all.
"Why aren't you surprised?" she asked her. "Did you know this?".
"No", Maria lied, quickly shaking her head. "He does a lot of crazy stuff. So it's not that surprising".
"I know he's an idiot", Tanisha replied, half-laughing. "But breaking into the academy is another level of stupidness".
Maria giggled softly, "That's a little harsh", she said, covering her mouth.
Her eyes drifted, and her gaze landed on Malakai without meaning to.
Malakai felt some eyes on him and instantly found Maria looking at him.
Malakai smiled at her with his usual grin.
After a second of locking eyes, Maria swung her head away sharply with a bit of attitude.
Malakai's smile turned into a smirk. He could see she was still upset. He hadn't spoken to her since that conversation, so he wanted to know how she felt about the whole thing now.
Malakai wasn't fussed. He knew Maria didn't get the extra points, so he wasn't going to take the piss, but he also knew it wasn't that deep. It wasn't like a deep, dark secret, so he knew she'd get over it.
"Let's go to the main office!" William said like a commander, holding up his device with both hands.
"And then we're going to treat Mally to dinner", Lucas added. "All of you are coming right?".
"Yeah", Chris, Marcus, Daniel, Anya and Melody all nodded.
"You guys can come too, if you want", Ray told Tanisha and Maria.
"Why are you treating Malakai to dinner?" Tanisha asked. "Is it his birthday or something?".
"We all agreed if he got us points we would", Ray replied.
"That makes sense", Tanisha muttered, feeling stupid that she didn't catch the obvious. "I don't mind a little night out", she said, nudging Maria.
Maria smiled a little, "It's been a while since we've gone out together".
After putting the cabinet back into place, Benjamin walked over to Malakai and wrapped his arm around his shoulder. "Where do you wanna eat?" he asked.
"I don't know, you lot decide innit", Malakai shrugged. "Can we go at like eight or something though?".
"Why?".
"I need to do something real quick".
5:19 PM
"You came alone?" a second-year asked, eyeing Malakai as he stepped inside.
"I don't need anyone with me. I ain't scared of you lot", Malakai calmly replied, walking through, back straight with his hands in his pockets.
The tension from the assembly earlier didn't disappear. It was packed into this room. Eyes were staring at him from every angle, with low voices conversing with each other.
Malakai was his usual self. He didn't walk like he was a big shot or anything. He was acting and walking like he normally would.
Malakai pulled out a chair and sat down, "Yo".
"What's up?" Micheal replied, leaning back slightly.
Malakai was sitting opposite Micheal. One small table, two chairs and a crowd forming a loose circle around them.
"There's a lot more people here than last time", Malakai said, glancing around, looking into as many eyes as he could.
"After what you said, more people wanted to see you", Micheal replied, with a straight face. He didn't wear his calm smile this time. "You didn't bring any friends with you this time?".
"Nah", Malakai shook his head. "Did you want me to come with an army or something?"
"I thought you would've come with some of your friends for protection", Micheal said.
"Protection?" Malakai scoffed with a smirk. "Why do I need protection? You lot are gonna do nothing to me".
"Says who?" a second year said, towering over Malakai.
Malakai didn't respond. His smile was enough of a response.
"Stop", Micheal firmly said, looking serious towards his peers. "No one's going to do anything to anyone. This is just a conversation. Nothing else".
That immediately stopped things from escalating, but it didn't stop the glares towards Malakai.
"Damn, Micheal's serious", Leon whispered to Chloe.
"I think it's a bad idea for all of us to be here", Chloe whispered back. "I feel like something will happen".
"If Micheal didn't want us to be here, he would've gone somewhere else", Leon said. "I think he wanted us to see this. It's only right, all of us were involved".
"Not all of us", Chloe frowned, making it clear she wasn't.
"Most of us", Leon corrected himself with a grin.
Micheal exhaled through his nose and looked directly at Malakai, "You asked to talk. So what do you want?".
"I won the bet, so I'm getting my reward innit", Malakai replied with a sly smile.
"Okay. What do you want then?" Micheal asked again.
"I want you to apologise for being a dickhead and tryna snake me", Malakai clearly said with no hesitation, staring at him.
Micheal gave one nod. "That's fair. I probably should've done that when you first came in", he said, expecting something like this. He took a deep breath, sat up and looked at Malakai. "I'm sor-".
"Whoa, whoa. You're gonna apologise like that?" Malakai asked, cutting him off, holding up a hand. "Get on your knees bro".
Micheal's eyes widened, and his face dropped, "Wha-".
"You tried to treat me like a dickhead. So imma humiliate you in front of your whole year group", Malakai said, coldly.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" someone angrily shouted from the crowd.
"Who do you think you are?" another second-year chimed in, coming closer to Malakai.
Malakai glanced around, amused. "You lot are dirty-minded", he smirked, baiting that reaction in. "I'm not gonna make him suck my dick. I'm just making him apologise on his knees".
"Micheal, you don't have to do that".
"Yeah! Don't listen to him".
"Let's just beat him up. What's he going to do against all of us?".
"Yeah!".
"If you lot didn't want this to happen, you should've found my device", Malakai said, cockily, enjoying their sour reactions.
"Who gives a shit about the bet?"
"It doesn't mean anything".
Malakai smiled wider, "All of you have changed your tone as soon as you lost. If I lost, you lot would've made me do the worst shit ever. I know that for a fact".
"I swear I'm going to kill this guy".
"Micheal you don't have to do it. You didn't shake on anything".
Malakai's lips formed a circle as his eyebrows raised while he turned to Michael. He was amused at how desperate all the second years were. He was enjoying the salty responses. However, one of them raised a good point. They didn't shake on anything. So technically Micheal didn't have to do it.
"It's up to you innit", Malakai said, leaning back. "They're not wrong, we didn't shake on anything". At this point, Malakai was more than satisfied. He got the maximum amount of points he could get from this challenge, so anything extra was a bonus. "If you don't wanna do it, then just say it", he shrugged. "Either way, I'm walking away happy".
The room's volume went down. The second-year students thought they had gotten to Malakai and swayed his decision.
"No", Micheal said suddenly. "A bet is a bet", he continued, standing up. "I'm not a sore loser".
Before anyone could step in, Micheal stepped around the table and got onto his knees in front of Malakai. Malakai turned his head to the right to look at him.
"Micheal, what are you doing?"
The second years stared in disbelief, whispering between each other, shocked at what they were seeing.
Micheal looked up at Malakai, who looked confused and a little uncomfortable himself. "Are you not going to record this?" he asked, defeated, feeling the lowest he's ever felt in a very long time.
That question made Malakai's stomach twist. Seeing Micheal in front of him like this was weirding him out. He didn't like it. He didn't think he would feel like this.
"I'm not having a man on his knees on my camera roll", he replied bluntly, shaking his head, frowning.
Micheal swallowed. His eyes dropped to the floor, staring at the space between his knees. He stayed like that for a few seconds. Enough time to mentally prepare himself. Then he lifted his head again.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry, I thought I could use you. I was wrong, and I'm sorry for disrespecting you".
"Aryt that's enough", Malakai said, cutting it short. "Get up man", he waved his hand up, looking away.
"That didn't feel right", he thought. "I fully regret that. I thought that would be funny, but I feel like a dickhead now. Shit…"
Micheal silently got up and went back to his seat, keeping his eyes low, not wanting to look at anyone. All the second years were glaring at Malakai. None of them liked seeing that. It was uncomfortable. Their hate for Malakai reached a new high.
Micheal sat down and looked across the table again. "...Is that it?" he asked. "Or is there anything else you want?".
"Huh?" Malakai snapped out of it. "Oh. Uuh... Oh yeah". He leaned forward slightly. "Why? Why did you ask me that?"
"The favour?" Micheal rhetorically asked. He relaxed a little. "If you want me to be honest, I wanted to see if you would do it".
"So it was a test", Malakai said flatly.
"No, it wasn't a test but…" Micheal sighed and shook his head, embarrassed, "I'm not going to sugarcoat it. I was trying to use you. I wanted easy points".
"I thought we were friends though?" Malakai replied with his hands out. "So you didn't think of me as a friend?".
Micheal looked away, looking ashamed. "I let my ego take over. I thought I could big bro you because you're a first year", he said. "I underestimated you heavily".
"Aryt calm. You underestimated whatever", Malakai replied, waving it off, understanding that part. He was used to being underestimated, so he didn't like hearing that as an answer. "But the whole time you didn't think of me as a friend. Like that pool match we had and that mini party. That was all fake".
Micheal didn't know how to answer. He stayed silent and kept his gaze low.
"Why do you care so much if Micheal is your friend or not?" a second-year asked from behind Malakai.
Malakai slightly turned his body to them. "I'm not a kid bro. I ain't begging for friends", he replied, furrowing his brows, not liking his tone. "I just wanna know if he thought we were friends cuz I did", he continued. "And if he didn't and he was playing me the whole time then, that's on me. I should've been on guard more innit".
"Just because people are nice to you doesn't mean they're your friends", a girl added, condescendingly.
"I know innit, but…" Malakai ruffled his hair and shook his head, trying to think of something to say. "This academy man…" he said under his breath with a smirk.
"It wasn't my plan to use you", Micheal finally spoke up. "I wasn't plotting on you this whole time. But at the same time, I did think I was better than you. You're one of the best in your year, and I thought I could walk over you".
Malakai sank into his chair slightly. "Aryt I hear it", he replied, disappointed in himself for letting this all happen to him. "Did you get points?".
"Yeah", Micheal awkwardly said, caught off guard by the switch of topic. "But it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be", he continued, wiping his face. "Your year group is different bro".
"I guess", Malakai shrugged, not knowing how to respond to that.
"I've got a question for you", Micheal said.
"Go on".
"How do you know Sofia?".
A few of the second years frowned towards Malakai, surprised to hear that.
"Sofia? What señorita?" Malakai said with raised eyebrows, with a small grin. "How do you know I know señorita?".
"Why are you calling her señorita?" someone asked, finding it weird.
"It's the nickname I gave her", Malakai answered, casually.
"Someone told me they saw you at a café with her", Micheal replied.
"That was ages ago", Malakai said, confused.
"It was before winter break, right?" Micheal said. "Why do you know her?"
Malakai smirked, "Why do you wanna know?".
Micheal folded his arms and lifted his shoulders, "Curious".
Malakai leaned forward and put both his elbows on the table, "What happens if I say she's my girl?".
Shock flashed across Micheal's face for a quick second, but he quickly realised who was sitting in front of him.
"No way", a second-year scoffed.
"She doesn't let anyone talk to her", another second-year said. "Let alone a guy".
"Maybe it's because she's with me", Malakai said, keeping the joke alive.
"No, seriously", Micheal said, putting an end to the joke. "It's weird she'd talk to you. And it's even weirder she'd have a coffee with you".
"It was matcha", Malakai unnecessarily corrected him.
"Whatever", Micheal replied, annoyance present on his face. "That whole scenario is odd. I just want to know how it happened".
A small smile crept on Malakai's face seeing Micheal rattled, "Bro, all that happened was she came up to me pissed because she saw me fight someone from your year group. She kept saying she was gonna snitch on me, and then we ended up in a café", he quickly summarised. "I haven't talked to her in ages... Actually, I texted her like a week ago or something".
"Why did you text her?" a second-year asked.
"We're friends innit", Malakai shrugged. "Actually..." he smirked and glanced at the girl who spoke earlier. "I shouldn't say that she might not be my friend", he said, mocking her.
The girl clicked her tongue and glared at him.
Malakai faced forward again, "I weirdly trust her though", he added under her breath.
"Hmm", Micheal vacantly stared elsewhere.
Malakai noticed him spacing out, "Wait. Is that why you tried to use me?" he pointed at him. "You were pissed I talked to señorita?".
"No, no", Micheal quickly shook his head. "It played in my mind, but I wasn't pissed or anything".
"She's first innit?" Malakai said. "So you thought I was plotting against you", he smiled, thinking he was onto something and was connecting dots.
"How would you plot against me with her? That wouldn't work", Micheal replied, shutting that down. "As I said before, I just wanted to know why you two knew each other".
"Aryt", Malakai accepted, not that curious to press further or in the mood to take the piss. "I know she's number one, but you don't have to make her a loner", he said, leaning back. "Be her friend innit".
"She doesn't want any friends", a second-year said.
"I can't lie, she might've said something like that", Malakai replied, tilting his head up to look at the ceiling. "Eh, it doesn't matter. She don't mean it. Just be her friend innit", he shrugged carefree.
Micheal glanced around and saw the crowd looking to him. The mood was awkward, and he didn't know which way this conversation would go. He wanted to leave, but it was clear he wasn't in control here.
"Anything else?".
Malakai looked at Micheal for a couple of seconds, gauging his mood. He stretched his hand across the table, offering his hand.
"Let's forget about the bet".
Micheal looked at his hand, "Why?" he asked, suspicious.
"I can't be arsed with it", Malakai honestly said. He also still felt bad about making Micheal do that apology. He felt like that was enough. He didn't even want to ask Micheal for anything else after that. "Let's just start over innit".
Micheal leaned his hand forward, "This isn't a trick, right? You're not going to try something later down the line".
"I'm shaking your hand in front of everyone", Malakai said, gesturing to the crowd. "And I'm not tryna sound like a dickhead, but I have no reason to backstab you or try anything. And I can't be arsed", he shrugged.
Micheal saw Malakai's laid-back posture. It looked like he was done with the whole thing. He didn't fully trust Malakai, but what Malakai was offering was too good to turn down.
Micheal stretched out his hand, "Fine", he said, shaking Malakai's hand.
The crowd around still didn't like Malakai, even after watching the handshake. What this looked like to them was Malakai saving face.
"Aryt, that's done", Malakai said, standing up.
"Are you sure you don't want anything else?" Micheal asked, also standing up.
One thing instantly came to Malakai's mind. "Let's play pool", he smirked. "I want a rematch".
A little smile appeared on Micheal's face for the first time today, "Sure", he agreed. "I don't mind beating you again".
Malakai shook his head, "I ain't losing this time".
8:16 PM
"Mally, we saved you a seat!" William called out, waving.
"Is this a banquet? Why's there so many people here?" Malakai asked, walking closer, seeing more people than expected.
"More people got invited", David replied. "Why are you late?".
"I'm not that late", Malakai said.
"Everyone came here around 7:45", Benjamin told him.
"Bro, I told you, I had to do something", Malakai said, shrugging with his signature smirk.
The place of seating was one long row. Usually, the tables are separated, but they joined them for this occasion. One side had chairs, while the other had a long couch.
Malakai took a seat between David and Benjamin, and opposite him were Ray, William and Lucas, who were already in a conversation.
Then, down the line, he saw Melody sitting with some of her friends, and Chris with a couple of his. It was a block of people from 1-B together. Daniel sat opposite his girlfriend as if it were a date. Marcus was laughing with one of his friends while Molly was seated with Nada and another girl. Like 1-B, it was a little block of people from 1-E. Anya was further down the line with a few girls from 1-A. Even a group of girls from his class, like Maria, Tanisha and their friends, were sitting together beyond the 1-A girls. It looked like both sets of girls were talking with each other and having fun.
Malakai didn't expect any of this.
He stared down the line, amazed at how all these people were here together.
He was here in this moment.
Something warm inside of him hit his chest.
Malakai photographed this moment in his head and smiled to himself,
"This is sick".
LEADERBOARD
1) MALAKAI JUNIOR (1-C) - 7,654 POINTS
2) ALEXANDER BURRELL (1-A) - 7,348 POINTS
3) FRANK CARTER (1-A) - 7,331 POINTS
4) ISABELLA GRACE (1-A) - 7,070 POINTS
5) ACE STAR (1-A) - 6,835 POINTS
6) SYDNEY HAYES (1-A) - 6,557 POINTS
7) BENJAMIN SCOTT (1-C) - 6,496 POINTS
8) SABRINA HALEY (1-D) - 6,427 POINTS
9) NAOMI TANAKA (1-A) - 6,353 POINTS
10) LUCAS CAMPBELL (1-A) - 6,298 POINTS